Pretoria - The Neotel/Broadband Infraco partnership has been selected to install a 10 Gigabit per second network to the South African Large Telescope (SALT) and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) sites in the Northern Cape.
The selection by the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is the outcome of a tender process done in consultation with the Department of Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation (NRF).
The tenders were evaluated taking into account price, Black Economic Empowerment criteria and technical considerations.
The network is a component of the South African National Research Network (SANReN) which is funded by the department as part of its national cyber infrastructure initiative. SANReN is implemented by the CSIR.
It will connect both SALT and SKA sites to SANReN's national backbone network in Cape Town.
The Neotel/Broadband Infraco partnership will deliver end-to-end connectivity and services required between Cape Town, SALT and SKA at a total value of approximately R100 million.
It is estimated that the period for completion of the project will be six to10 months.
The SALT telescope currently makes use of a 4 Megabits per second Telkom circuit to Cape Town which was commissioned by SANReN at the end of 2009 to provide an interim solution to SALT connectivity.
While the temporary solution allows researchers to make use of the telescope, it does not fulfil the future requirements for SALT.
CSIR Head of Cyber Infrastructure Group, Professor Colin Wright said the new network will enable researchers at SALT and at SKA to transfer their data locally and internationally.
"It meets the requirements of the current phase of the SKA project. Neotel/BBI has provided the CSIR with a solution that will address the requirements of the site," he said.
Science and Technology Chief Director: Emerging Research Areas and Infrastructure, Dr Daniel Adams said: "The installation of the circuit to the SKA site close to the town of Carnavon will provide further proof that South Africa can provide the bandwidth needed to fulfil the requirements of the full SKA, and will serve as a significant boost to the South African SKA bid."
NRF boss, Dr Albert van Jaarsveld said the development paves the way for international collaborators to actively make use of the facilities that will be provided by the sites.
"With the recent successful installation of seven dishes at the SKA site, the 10 Gigabit per second link could not have come at a better time.
"Researchers are eager to get access to the data that are being produced at these sites. The broadband link will enable not only South African, but international research to have near real-time access to the data.
"Furthermore, the broadband link demonstrates our ability to invest heavily in scientific infrastructure in support of our desire to win the SKA bid," he said.
